BASK NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2650, 28 December 1904, Page 59

BASK NOTES.

Naseby. — I spent a day in Naseby recently, and was roused out by an enthusiast at about 5 a.m., who was anxious to show me the dams lying on the hills at the back of the township. It was a little attention meant in all kindness, and duly appieciated as such, but I am afraid the number of dams about Naseby was eomewhat increased by the little attention. However, Mr Murray, I am sure, wished to give me an idea of what fishing tnere was about the place, and I thank him for having gone out of his way to afford me information. We started off up the hills, and soon came to the dams, and by the numerous circles made as the fish struck the surface, trout were evidently fairly plentiful, and of fair and even large size. vVe met in with i)r M'K.night, another devotee of the rod, who knew we would probably be of that way, and he and Mr Murray used all their wiles to induce a fat lusty one, or even an ill-condi-tioned one, to rise ; but to no purpose. It is true one or two were just touohed, but I had not the satisfaction of seeing a Naseby trout landed. Every angler knows what fishing for trout in still, clear water meciis, and it is no wonder that hopes as to getting a fish or -two were not realised. I do not know that I quite thanked Mr Murray and the doctor for showing mo round, but 1 do so now. The Waiau. — The Orepuki Advocate pays : Visiting anglers whose integrity is beyond refutation aver that a number of fish taken from the Waiau are true Salmo salar (British salmon). A number of members of the Otago Acclimatisation Society will fish the ..river to confirm this statement. — That should settle the question for all time. Liberation of Yearlings. — An exchange says: — Mr Geo. Big-gar, ranger for the Southland Acclimatisation Society, liberated some 15,000 yearling trout in the Otamete between the Reaby and Peel Creeks. Canterbury Notes. — The following paragraphs are from Canterbury exchanges: — December 19 : Messrs R. D. Johnston and Thos. Wilson, of Asnourton, visited the mouth of the Rong-tata on Anniversary Day, their total catch constituting a record for the present season among Ashburton fishermen. The former angler bagged 20 fish, and the latter 16. Several of the fish weighed B£lb, the total weights being 1261b, or an average of 3£lb per fish. — December 21: As a result of the nor' -westers, the river Opihi was in. flood and the water very discoloured again yesterday. The Teugawai also rose, but was not discoloured, and the Temuka was in fine order. Anglers who go out for the holidays will find that the higheor they go up the Opihi the better the fishing. — December 21 : Two Ashburton anglers were successful in landing large 1 catches of trout at the mouth of the Rangitata yesterday, one catch of 15 fish, including a 13-pounder, and another of 12 fish including a 14-pounder. — December 22 : Two or three members of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society were informally discussing the subject of Sunday fishing last evening, and one of them quoted an authority in justification -of a practice which has been by ministers' associations. "I once knew a parson, a- white parson, a real good man," .he stated. "Well, this parson told me there was no harm in Sunday fishing ; 'but,' he ■ said, 'come to a service in the morning or evening, one or the other. You may fish all the rest of th© day ; it will keep you out of harm's way, and when you feel inclined 'to swear, put your pipe in your mouth.' '.' Canterbury Acclimatisation Society. — At a recent meeting of this society the Lecston Anglers' Club wrote requesting the society to vote a sum towards the cost of a fence which had been erected to enclose a section of a reserve at -the mouth of the Rakaia River, for the convenience of anglers. It was decided to let the matter stand over till the- eoci€<ty ascertained whether it had authority to alocatc money for the purpose mentioned. It was decided to inform the Tourist Department that rivers in the neighbourhood of the Hanmer Sanatorium would be stocked with fish as soon as possible, and it was agreed to recommend Mr C. S. Neville for appoint- . ment a,s honorary ranger in that district. ' Notice was received from the Colonial Secretary's Office that Mr E. G. Gardiner had been appointed a ranger for Canterbury. The 'Gardens Committee's report stated that 1250 rainbow trout fry, in forward condition, had been drafted from the balance ; 250 rainbow yearlings had been placed in the north branch of the Wai- ' makariri, and 10,000 rainbow fry had been forwardadl to Lake Coleridge. T\vent3 rtwo ducks, mostly greys, had been hatched in the Gardens. Mr Holmes, of Bangor, had presented a oock pheasant and three hens to the society, and also a sitting of egg*. Tho pond's were all in good order. I The report was adopted. j Trout-fishing in Tasmania. — The season (says the sixtii report of the Northern Tasmanian Fisheries Association) was a bad one, but it nevertheless produced some re- j markable catches, especially from the Great j Lake, -which is 14 miles long, and covers some-- 28.000 acres. English trout were first turned down hrre in 1869. and the average ' weight of fish now taken is 91b ; in 1900-1901 it was 101b. The heaviest trout ever caught in the lake was a fish of 25ilb, caught in 1897 by the late Mr M. Seal. Another monster of 201b was caught in April last by Major C. J. L. Smith. This, however, va not phenomenal, for 21 trout, weighing

151b or over, were taken in the Great Lake between February 26 and April 30, and during tho season Major Smith and Mr B. Smith by themselves caught 23 fish, which averaged over 131b. Such sport as this (says the Field) may well give New Zealand cause to look to its laurels. Wood's Lake also shows some remarkable records, though the fish do not run so largo. A basket of 41 fish, averaging 3ilb, to two rods in one day ought to satisfy the most exacting requirements. The lake fishing seems at present to be entirely spinning, but the report comments on the increased use of the fly rod in the rivers, and expresses satisfaction at the success that attends the dry fly expert. Altogether, Tasmania bids fair to become another anglers' paradise. • Capture of a Sunfish.— lt was our second year at the isla-nd, an island that lies about three miles out in the Atlantic, and we had hitherto been disappointed in not coming across any sunfibh. Th& shape of a sunfish is rather like a flattened egg. with one end cut_off, and the end which is scolloped is its apology for a tail. The fish is coloured somewhat like a sole. One morning, when my boatmen came up for orders, they told me that some of the herring boa.ts had seen several sunfish off the head in the early morning, and when we set sail we were in hopes that our spell of bad luctk would be broken. Our party consisted of three ladies, two men besides myself, and the two boatmem, both first-rate sailors. The boat was a whaler of about 30ft. rigged generally as a yawl, and partly docked. On this occasion she only carried her jib and mainsail, as I found that rig handier for fishing purposes. After a. sail of a mile we were in deep water, and mackerel lines were put out. our rate of speed being reduced. We beat backwards and forwards across the- bay, so as to quarter the water where the sunfish had been seen, picking up from time to time mackerel and gurnet. We had been cruising about an hour and a-half, when one of the sailors, who was looking out forward, told us that he saw a sunfish. All was now excitement; the mackerel lines were rushed in, the big tarpon gaff laid ready on deck, and the rifles — a .380 rcok rifle and- a .44 Marlin repeater — taken from their racks and covers and loaded. For some time we were unable to make out the fish, but, the boat being headed for it, we at last were able to spot it. It was lying just awash, with a big finn flapping about in the wind, tin. white side of the fish being uppermost. When within 30 yards the sprit was struck, the sail furled, and we approached under oars. Our boacmen warned us to keep quiet, for at the least noise the fish would sink. One boatman now went forward with the tarpon gaff, while the other man took the two oars, standing with his face to the bow so as to be able to steer correctly. Just as the boat reached the fish it began to sink obliquely, but the man with the gaff was too quiok for it, and. struck into the fish near the tail. There was a great splash, and tihen a shout, "Hold- on to my Legs!' 1 The shout was just in time, and the other boatman, s-pringing forward, caught his comrade's legs just as he was disappearing overboard. Others went to help, and between them managed to hold the fish, and to enable the gaff man to regain the deck. The fish fought desperately, and covered all of us with water ; but directly it was brought to the surface the rifles came intc use. For two or three minutes a sharp fire was kept up, but it was found that the .680 bullets would not penetrate, and even one of the .4-4 bullets came back, flattened, into the boat. So far as we could see, the bullets starred out as if they had hit an iron plate, and the fish was fighting as hard as ever. The tarpon gaff, too, was observed to be unbending, and it looked as if we must lose our fish. Luckily I had in my bag some cartridges loaded with AAA shot. Putting two of the cartridges into a 12-bore, I iat drive at the eje of the fish, and 1 for the first time there was a show of blood on the water. The 'fish now began to weaken, and a few more shots from the repeater finished it. Having killed our fish, naturally our first thought was to haul it on board; but this, even with the aid of a tackle fastened to the mast, we found to b& impossible. Some of our party had remained ashore, and we were bound to produce our first sunfish. The only way, therefore, was to tow our prey, and the large gaff was fastened in the fish's mouth, as well as a smaller conger gaff, and they were both made fast to the stern of the boat. As bad luck would have it, the wind had dropped, and there were three miles of towing to be done before we reached home. If the fish had given us trouble Defore, it kept it up in death, for never did a fish tow worse. It sheared about from side to side ; now and then it spun like % hug-& minnow, and it varied these movements by diving. The crew were heartily sick of it before we got it home, and another drawback was that we- found the- outside of the boat coated with a thick slime, which " was transferred involuntarily by our hands to the inside of the boat, where it was encountered in patches for some days, making us very thankful that we had not succeeded in hauling the fish on boa-rd. That we had something in tow was speedily seen from tbe land, and when we got to the pier we found tho village population waiting for us, as well as the remainder of our party. A rope was soon made fast to the fish, ar_l willing hands soon hove it up on to the boat slip, but it took 11 or 12 pairs of strong hands to get it so far. What the fish weighed I have no idea, but the tape showed that it measured 9ft long by Bft wide. Whether this was a large fish of its sort I do not know, but I expect it was, for though we afterwards encountered many others, none of them appeared to be quite so big as this one. The village butcher was one of the crowd, and he willingly volunteered for the duty of cutting open the fish. We all thought that he would havo some difficulty, but the sharp knife seemed to penetrate much easier than the bullets had done, and in a short time a great slab was cut out of the side of the fish. His body we found was composed of two great sheets of bone or gristle, about 2in to 3in thick, and its interior consisted chiefly of an oily substance, which we took to be the liver. So oily wa-s iL that I had it all collected and put in a buoket, meaning to extract the oil, but on asking for it next morning I was told the dogs had eaten the whole contents of the bucket in the night. There was but little blood in the fish, and we found that What bullets had gone through the outer coverings had done but little damage. The shot cartridges, however, had smashed up the interior of its head, and it was their effect that killed' the fish. We had so much trouble with our fish that we determined not to kill another, and, as a matter of course, thereafter we wore co^istantly coming across the-m. Generally we found them in couples, but once a

shoal of six or eight passed under the boat They always swam, or floated, with the white side up, and on calm, hot days ws never encountered ono. They seemed to prefer days when there was a fiesh breeze blowing, and I have frequently seen them from the shore when the sea was too rough for boats to go out, and the fish then ■=how- up very distinctly, as the waves put them up or. end. When alarmed by th« approach of a boat, the sunfish do not hurry in their dive, but sink obliquely out of , sight, and their white sides show to a great I depth. August and September seem ie l>« their favourite months, and they may co_*j : in with the herrings, that are due abotr^ 1 then.— P. Maude, in the Field. , • —Pretty Dry.— Young Beginner (fishing with dry fly] : "Am I keeping my fly properly dry, Duncan?" Scotch Keeper: "Oh, I'm thenkiu* | she'll be dry enough. She's stickin' up in I that big willow near by where ye stalled i lushin'."